Bon Bon Before the Bug Bear

As Sweetie Drops got to the top of the stairs, she entered her old office. There she started to pick threw the list of magical artifacts. Once she found what she was looking for she entered the vault and picked out a beautiful harp. It was made of a white wood with gold trim and accents with strings like silk. The artifact when played lulled anyone or anything in its range to sleep.

She thought that this would do the trick so that she could gather up all the little pests and place them in containment. She placed the harp in her saddle bag along with the other things she gathered from the secret office down below. Now she was set and ready to go on her mission. Silently she walked through the halls of the castle and out the front gate and into the streets of Canterlot. As she made her way to the train station she could not help but think of how this new roll in Equestria was going to work out. She never had thought of herself as heroic or brave, and capturing monsters and threats to the empire were kind of scary but exciting all at the same time.

Sweetie Drops was lost in thought and did not even notice she was at the station until she bumped into the conductor of the train.

"OH, I am so sorry! I did not see you there. Is this the train to Ponyville?" She asked the stallion.

"Yes it is, and it is ok I get that a lot around here. All these Canterlot folk are too busy to watch where they are going," he replied very politely.

"Well I was kind of day dreaming so it was totally my fault. I hope I did not hurt you," she replied.

"Not at all. I do that myself from time to time," the conductor answered. "We are just getting ready to leave you have you ticket?"

"Yes sir, here it is," Sweetie Drops handed him the pass she was issued at the agency.

"Well well, a royal messenger. We do not get many of those these days. Please come on aboard," he conductor said with a little giddiness in his voice. It was not often that a Royal Messenger was on his train.

He opened the train car door for her and she trotted inside and took her seat in the general passenger car. She was not to draw attention so she tried to blend in with the rest of the passengers. There were not many and this train only had 5 cars. Ponyville was not exactly a hot vacation spot like Phillydelphia or Manehatten. It was not long after she took her seat that the train started to move and was off down the Mountain towards her mission and a wild adventure.

The train ride only took a few hours and was relatively uneventful. The small train pulled into the station at the edge of Ponyville and the few passengers on board got off, Sweetie Drops included. There were a few ponies at the station ready to board when the train emptied, but not many. She trotted off the platform and into town, she took in the sights and smells. Walking down the streets of the small village, she saw that most of the Ponies here were fillies and mares. Very few stallions, but that is the way it was in Equestria, some towns had a balanced mixture of colts, stallion, fillies, and mares, where others were like this one either mainly mares or stallions. As she trotted threw town, she was all of a sudden hit from the front by a pink blur. She rolled down the street with the blur for a few feet until they came to a rest with the pink pony standing over her.

"Hi! My name is Pinky Pie! Are you new here? You must be new here because I know every pony in Ponyville. Where you come from? Why are you here? What is your name?" It all came out in one big rush with joy and excitement in her voice.

"Oh… Hi my name is" she paused for a moment as she tried to think of a new name. She was undercover after all. "Bon Bon. I am from Canterlot. I just came into town. I was thinking of moving here."

"OH BOY!" Pinky Pie exclaimed "A new friend! I love making new friends."

"Well as I said thinking about it. Not sure if I am going to move here or not," Sweetie Drops continued the lie. She was not very good at lying but this pink pony was so excited and high strung that Sweetie Drop doubted that she would even pick up on her tells. See ponies, in general, were horrible liars. They gave off all sorts of tells that gave them away.

"You should totally move here! his place is the best! And I am the official party planner for the whole town. I throw the best parties!" Pinky Pie said proudly.

"We will have to see," Sweetie Drops replied. "It was nice meeting you Miss Pie."

"You can call me Pinky," she told the pony she just met.

"Oh ok, thank you Pinky," Sweetie Drops responded and was off leaving the pink pony behind. 'Well that was defiantly different,' she thought. All her years living in Canterlot she never meet a pony with such energy as that one.

Sweetie Drops made her way to the edge of town and the Ever free Forest. The first thing she noticed about the forest is that it had a weather pattern all its own. The pegasus ponies had no control over it. There were dark clouds in one area and sun shine in another. The plants grew all on their own with no help from the earth Ponies, it was strange. She slowly made her way into the foreboding looking forest.

As she made her way through the thick underbrush, the smells and sounds of the forest assaulted her senses. The thick smell of the trees and grass was nothing like in Canterlot or Ponyville. The sounds of the creatures were unfamiliar her as well. There were sounds she never heard before and they were kind of worrisome. It was not long before she was deep into the forest and she realized she did not mark her trail on the way in.

Worry started to creep into her mind and she had to take a deep breath to calm herself. Panic would not do her any good now. As she looked around some relief hit her. She looked back the way she came and saw her shoe prints in the dirt. Well the will help her retrace her steps. It was starting to get dark at this point so she decided that it would be a good idea to head back to Ponyville for the night and start fresh in the morning. She turned around and followed her trail back the ways she came. As she left the clearing, she was stopped by a yellow pair of eyes was watching her from the bushes. Taking note of it, she continued to leave and head to the nearest inn to spend the night.

The next morning came with the gentleness one would expect in a village such as this one. Sweetie Drops got up with a yawn and stretched herself out. She then took a shower and got her gear ready for the day. She placed her saddle bags on her back and left her room at the small inn she was staying at. She made her way down stairs her belly was rumbling and she realized she did not eat the night before. All the excitement of the day made her forget to eat. The inn had a small dining room that she made her way into and sat at a table. One of the staff trotted up to take her order.

"What can I get you this morning?" asked the female unicorn standing before her. She had a mint coat, brilliant cyan mane and tail with a white streak, sunglow eyes, and a cutie mark of a lyre.

Sweetie Drops instantly liked her. Although she did not have many friends in Canterlot, it was not because she did not try. She just did not really fit in with the brand of ponies there. But she did pride herself on being a good judge of character and this filly was somepony she would like to get to know. She took moment to look over the menu and settled on a daisy salad.

"Yes, I would love to have the daisy salad, please," Sweetie Drops replied.

"Great choice. It is the house specialty," the waitress said. "I will have it right out for you."

"Thank you so much, I am starving," Sweetie Drops returned with a smile. Yes indeed she would like to get to know this pony better.

Her meal come just a few minutes later and the nice waitress placed it on her table with a smile. "Is there anything else I can get for you? If so my name is Lyra, just ask I would be happy to assist," Lyra told her.

"Thank you Lyra, I am…." She trailed off as she tried to think of a name to maintain he cover. Since she already used one she might as well stick with it. "Bon Bon."

"Nice to meet you, Bon Bon. Enjoy your meal," Lyra said and then she trotted off to her other tables.

Sweetie Drops finish her meal and paid. Surprisingly it was only 2 bits. The same meal in Canterlot would have cost her at least 5. She left a bit for a tip and left the restaurant. It was time to get to work. She trotted off threw town heading off to the Everfree Forest. This time she brought with her some string to mark her way.

At the edge of the forest she tied her first sting and proceeded into the unknown. Being it was early morning, there was plenty of daylight left. Despite that the forest was still pretty dark. But no matter there was a job to do and she was determined not to fail. It was not long and she was quite a ways into the forest. She lost count on how many markers she left behind her. She searched for at least 5 hours or so before she came across the first signs of the little pests. There was a grove of fruit trees of which she could not identify the type of fruit, but the trees were bare. No sign of anything on them, they were picked clean. It was just then as she was examining the tree she heard the cutest little chirp from the nearby bushes. She walked over to examine it and a little blue ball with big eyes and bug like wings popped out. She knew from the description that this was what she came for.

The Perasprite flew over to her still cooing oh so gently. It landed on the tip of her upraised hoof and stared at her. As it sat there looking at her it appeared to choke and vomit and out popped a green ball that instantly opened its eyes and sprouted wings. She thought to herself now I know why they are such a pest. All they have to do is eat and they reproduce.

Off in the distance she heard an almost sawing sound, so she took her two little pests and put them into a jar the she had brought and proceeded toward the sound. It was not long before she discovered what the sound was. She was on the edge of another fruit tree grove and there they were hundreds of them. Consuming all they could fine that was eatable. Sweetie Drops took out her magic harp and began to strum the strings lightly. It put off the most enchanting sound she ever heard. But to her great surprise it did nothing to slow down or stop the little pests.

This made no since, the artifact was not working. It was supposed to put anything in its range to sleep. But these little things just keep right on going, Sweetie Drops did not know what to do. As she watched the little pest devour all in their path she heard another sound. It was coming from behind her; the rustling of the brush like something was coming her way. Sweetie Drops spun around hooves up and ready to defend against the creature coming at her. As the sound burst out of the underbrush she once again was assaulted by the pink blur. It was Pinkie Pie.

"Hello again!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"What are you doing here?" Sweetie Drops asked.

"I followed you. You looked like you needed a smile," Pinkie replied.

"Well not really but I do need some help. You see those little things over there?" Sweetie Drops asked.

"Oh yeah. Yuck Perasprites," Pinkie said opening her mouth and making a gagging motion.

"I was sent here to get rid of them and I do not know how. I have this harp but it does not seem to faze them," Sweetie Drops explained.

It was a risk but she had no choice now. She decided to tell the pink pony who she was and why she was there. Sweetie Drops hoped it would not come back to bite her later.

"Pinkie Pie, can I trust you with a secret?" Sweetie Drops asked. "It is really important you never tell anypony."

"Cross my heart and hope to fly stick a cup cake in my eye," Pinkie replied.

"What was that all about?" Sweetie Drops asked.

"It's my Pinkie Promise; I never break a Pinkie Promise. So what do you need to tell me that is soooooooooo secret?" Pinkie said.

Sweetie Drops then went on to explain the agency and her mission there in the Everfree Forest. It did not take too long to explain it all. She finished up with it all but telling her that the Princess herself needed to keep the secret and that it was for the good of all Equestria. When she was all done with her explanation Pinkie eyes were like pin dots and a look of confusion was left on her face. But she popped out of that quickly and exclaimed "Okie Doky Loki."

"So what can we do?" Sweetie Drops asked.

"Well first you are going to need a trombone, an accordion, a harmonica, symbols, some maracas, a banjo, tambourine, and last, but not least, a tuba," Pinkie replied all in a rush.

"What for?" Sweetie Drops asked.

"No time, we have to go, hurry up!" Pinkie said as she was already galloping off towards town.

Sweetie Drops fell in behind her doing her best to keep up with Pinkie. They were out of the forest in no time and back into Ponyville. Pinkie rushed from house to house and shop to shop picking up all the musical instruments on her list. Sweetie Drops fell on a park bench of exhaustion, how in the world does this pink pony do it? As she sat there a caught her breath a familiar Mint colored unicorn came walking by.

"Bon Bon right?" Lyra asked.

"Yes," Sweetie Drops replied.

"You mind if I sit here with you? You look exhausted, what happened?" Lyra said with a hint of worry in her voice.

"I was trying to help out Pinkie Pie," Sweetie Drops explained.

"Oh, hahahahahaha. Celestia herself could not keep up with Pinkie Pie," Lyra said. "She is like nothing I ever have seen that Pinkie. She could go all day and never get tired. I think it is all the sugar she eats."

That broke the ice, they both sat there on the bench for a while just talking. Sweetie Drops found that she really liked this mare, almost too much. It was not uncommon to have two mares or two stallions as a couple, but she never considered even having a mate so to speak. Her work was all she had for the longest time. Even in school the colts would try and serenade her but she was not interested. But with this new job, how would this even work? All these thoughts rushed threw her head and out of no were popped a pink face.

"Ready to go?" Pinkie asked.

"OH YES!" Sweetie Drops replied almost in relief. "Lyra I am sorry but I have to go now help Pinkie. She is doing a one pony polka."

With that they were off and headed to the forest once more. Pinkie was carrying all of the instruments that she collected on her back and in her saddle bags. Once again Sweetie Drops had a hard time keeping up, but she managed. They reached the clearing were they first meet up and Pinkie stopped. She began to take off the musical instruments and put them together so she could play them all at once. Sweetie Drops just stared in amazement. It only took a few moments and the polka machine was ready to go. Pinkie slid it on like it belonged on her and started to walk around sniffing the air and listening to the forest.

It was only a few minutes and her ears popped up and she took off. Sweetie Drops was right behind her. It it was not long before she heard what Pinkie was running towards. It was that same sawing sound she heard earlier. They entered another clearing not quite as big as the first one. There they were all those little pests all munching away at the fruit in the clearing.

As soon as they both saw the little pests Pinkie readied up the polka machine and started playing. The music had a kind of rhythmic beat to it that any pony could enjoy. Not the soft and harmonizing sound that the harp made but an upbeat kind of cheery sound. It did not take long and all the little pests were bouncing and doing a little dance. To Sweetie Drops amazement they all started to line up in a row and follow the music. Pinkie was leading them along a trail through the forest. Sweetie Drops took this opportunity to take out one of the other items she brought with her. It was a small box about 6 inches square and 6 high, the box was ornate and lined with gold trim made from some kind of white stone. Too look at it you might think it was just a paperweight but it was much more. Essentially it was a prison capturing creatures and placing them in suspended animation until it could be determined what to do with them.

Pinkie continued her polka and leading the little pests along as Sweetie Drops ran ahead to set up the box. It did not take Pinkie long and she was at the place where Sweetie Drops was ready. She pressed the little button on the side of the box and a small door popped opened on one side, she placed that side towards the trail and waited for the first Perasprite to come, as soon as Pinkie passed she flipped the little lever and opened the box. Like a vacuum the box began to suck in all that was in its reach. It took dirt and grass as well as every last Perasprite. Pinkie continued to play for a little longer before she realized there were not more Perasprites following her. She turned back around and walked back to where Sweetie Drops was packing up the box.

"Were did they all go?" Pinkie asked.

"I captured them all and placed them in here. They will not be bothering anypony ever again," Sweetie Drops replied. "Thank you so much for your help. I do not think I could have done it without you."

"Oh shucks, that what friends are for," Pinkie said. "Now I guess I will go bake a bunch of cupcakes for the party I am planning tomorrow. See you." And pinkie was bouncing off singing to herself. "LALALALALA…"

It was done, she did it. She completed her first mission with complete success. Sweetie Drops was beaming with pride as she walked back the trail out of the forest and to home. What she did not know was there was one little Perasprite that did not get scooped up and was left behind.